Snap fastener



Dec. 13, 1932. A. MOMM SNAP FASTENER Filed lay 8. 1931 1 man By ilk; mm, ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 13, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALBERT MOMM, OF IRVINGTON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO AUGUST GOERTZ & CO. INC, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY SNAP FASTENER Application filed May 8, 1931. Serial No. 535,826.

This invention relates, generally, to fasteners or catches; and the invention has reference, more particularly, to a novel snap fastener having a pivoted latch bar adapted to 5 be snapped to locked or unlocked position,

the said snap fastener being adapted for use on containers, such'as hinged boxes or the like.

Heretofore, fasteners provided with pivoted latch bars as generally constructed, were not of the snap type and had no means for retaining the latch bar in either locked or unlocked position, so that the same would often accidentally move or shift from locked position to unlocked position or vice versa.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a novel and ornamental snap fastener having a pivoted or swivel latch bar, together with means adapted to cooperate with said bar whereby the same is retained in either locked or unlocked position, the said bar being adapted to be snapped from one position to the other.

Another object of the present invention lies in the provision of a novel snap fastener which is of extremely simple construction and is strong and reliable in operation.

Other objects of this invention, not at this time more particularly enumerated, will be clearly understood from the following detailed description of the same.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a box having a hinged cover, which cover is adapted to be fastened to the bodyof the box by the novel snap fastener of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged rear view of the snap fastener taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2..

Fig. 4: is a viewsimilar to Fig. 2 but illustrates the operation of the swivel latch bar.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 55 of Fig. 4:; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the spring plate.

Similar characters of reference are employed in all of the hereinabove described 0 views, to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now to said'drawing, the reference numeral 1 designates the body section of a box or other container having a cover portion 2 which is hingedly connected to the body portion 1 at the rear of the box. The novel snap fastener of this invention is illustrated in Fig. 1 as consisting of two cooperating halves, a lower half 3 and an upper half 4. The lower half 3is attached to the front wall of the body section 1 adjacent the upper edge of this body section, and the upper half 4 of the fastener is attached to the cover 2 for cooperation with the lower half 3.

As especially shown in Figs. 2 to 6, the lower half 3 of the snap fastener is illustrated as comprising a hollow casing providing a substantially semi-circular front wall, together with wing projections 5 formed at the sides of the front wall, which wing projections are provided with apertures for receiving attaching screws 6. The top or upper wall 7 of the lower fastener half 3 is positioned so as to be substantially flush with the top of the body portion 1 of the container. Wall 7 is formed with an opening 8 for receiving the hooked end 10 of a swivel latch bar 11 which is pivotally mounted upon a pin 12 carried by the upper half 4 of the snap fastener. The hooked endlO is adapted to engage the wall 7 of the lower fastener half to thereby lock the two halves together.

The upper half l of'the snap fastener is similar in construction to the lower'half 3 and has a substantially semi-circular front wall which is complementary to the front wall of the lower fastener half. Upper half 4 is provided with an arcuate slot 13 in the upper curved wall thereof through which the handle portion 14 of the swivel latch bar 11 extends for manipulative engagement by the fingers of the user. The bottom wall of the upper half 4 is provided with an opening 15 through which the hook portion 10 of the swivel latch bar is adapted to move.

In order to cause the swivel latch bar 11 to snap from locked to unlocked position or vice versa, a semi-circular spring plate 16 is contained within the interior of the upper half 4 of the snap fastener and this spring plate is interposed between the vertical wall of the upper half 4 and the latch bar 11. The spring plate 16 has an aperture 17 for receiving the pivotal pin 12 and is formed with a rearwardly directed upper bowed portion 18 for cooperating with the handle portion 14 of the swivel latch bar. The bowed portion 18 is positioned directly above the pivotal pin 12 and the handle 14 moves past this bowed portion 18 in moving from locked to unlocked position. This bowed portion 18 by pressing against handle 14 resists the initial movement of the latch bar in either direction, but as the handle 14; passes the vertical or dead-center position, this arcuate portion acts to assist the movement of the latch bar and causes the same to snap into its final position, which final position is either the locked or unlocked positions-of the latch bar. hen the latch bar is in either its locked or unlocked position, the arcuate bowed portion 18 serves to retain the latch bar in such position, inasmuch as it requires a definite finger pressure to force the lach bar handle 14 over the arcuate portion 18.

In use, the novel snap fastener of this invention has a definite snapping action when moved to locked or unlocked position or vice versa, which snapping action is obtained by the simple expedient of using the spring plate 16. As it will be apparent the novel snap fastener of the present invention is of extremely simple construction and yet is positive and reliable in operation owing to the use of the spring plate 18 which insures the fastener remaining in locked or unlocked position, as desired, and prevents the latch bar from moving from one position to the other accidentally. It will be apparent that the casings 3 and 4 may be reversed so that cas ing 3 is attached to the cover portion 2 and casing 4 is attached to the body section 1 of the container, if desired.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely difierent embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

' What is claimed is:

1. A snap fastener for containers having hinge sections or the like comprising, an upper casing portion and a lower casing portion adapted to be secured to the cover and body sections, respectively, of a container, said casmg portions having similar front walls and being open at their rear, a pivotal pin secured to said upper casing portion front wall,.a swivel latch bar pivotally mounted upon said pin, said swivel latch bar having a hooked end for engaging said lower casing portion in locked relation, said upper casing portion having a slot in the upper surface thereof, and a handle formed on said swivel latch bar and extending through said slot and exteriorly of said upper casing portion for manual manipulation, and a spring plate mounted on said pivotal pin and interposed between said upper casing portion front wall and said latch bar, said spring plate having a bowed portion projecting into the path of movement of said handle for engaging the handle of said latch bar to thereby retain said handle in either locked or unlocked position and causing said latch bar when manipulated in use to snap from one of these positions to the other.

2. A snap fastener for containers having hinge sections or the like comprising, an upper casing portion and a complementary lower casing portion adapted to be secured to the cover and body sections, respectively, of a container, said casing portions having similar front walls and being open at their rear, a pivotal pin secured to said upper casing portion front wall, a swivel latch bar pivotally mounted upon said pin, said swivel latch bar having a hooked end for engaging said lower casing portion in locked relation, said upper and lower casing portions being apertured to permit movement of said hooked end from said upper casing portion and into said lower portion, said upper casing portion having a slot in the upper surface thereof, and a handle formed on said swivel latch bar and extending through said slot and exteriorly of said upper casing portion for manual manipulation, and a substantially semi-circular spring plate mounted on said pivotal pin and fixedly interposed between said upper casing portion front wall and said latch bar, said spring plate having a rearwardly directed bowed portion for engaging the handle of said latch bar to thereby urge said handle to either locked or unlocked position and causing said latch bar in use to snap from one of these positions to the other.

3. A fastener for containers comprising, two casing portions, said casing portions having complementary front walls, together with top, bottom and side walls, the bottom of one of said casing portions and the top of the other casing portion having openings therein adapted to substantially register with one another when said casing portions are superimposed one upon the other, a swivel latch bar pivotally mounted within one of said casing portions and having a hooked end adapt ed to be moved outwardly of said one casing portion to extend through said casing portion apertures for engaging the other casing portion to thereby lock said casing portions together, a handle formed on said latch bar and extending exteriorly of said first casing portion to provide for manual manipulation of said latch bar to effect the locking or unlocking of said casing portions, and a spring plate fixed within said one casing portion adjacent said latch bar, said spring plate having a projecting portion extending into the path of movement of said handle intermediate the terminal positions of said handle, whereby said spring plate projecting portion tends to hold said handle and hence said latch bar in either locked or unlocked position.

4. A fastener for containers comprising, a pair of complementary hollow casing portions, a swivel latch bar pivotally mounted within one of said casing portions, said latch bar having an operating handle extending exteriorly of said one casing portion to enable manual manipulation of said swivel latch bar, said latch bar having a hook portion arranged to lie within said one casing portion when said operating handle is at one limit of its movement, said hook portion moving outwardly of said one casing portion to engage the other casing portion in locked relation when said operating handle is moved to the other limit of its movement, and a spring plate mounted within said one casing portion, said spring plate having a raised portion projecting into the path of movement of said operating handle intermediate the limiting positions of this handle, whereby movement of this handle from one limiting position to the other is resisted by said spring plate raised portion.

In testimony, that I claim the invention set forth above I have hereunto set my hand this 5th day of May, 1931.

ALBERT MOMM. 

